Molten Miles: Black Magic Paint x Bishop Bikes

Great paint can sometimes take as long to apply as it does to actually make the frame it’s going on. And while it can hide a multitude of sins, if it’s being applied to a Bishop, you can be assured it’s a show stopper.

Baltimore’s Chris Bishop is one of those rare craftsman who just can’t let their work be routine or run-of-the-mill. In fact, his work is more prized because of the extra time he will spend carving a special detail in a lug or perfectly thinning them down.

His frames already have already won multiple awards at bike shows, for what that is worth. It’s just very obvious that he loves what he does. For NAHBS 2017, held earlier this year, he approached Ben and Rudi at Black Magic Paint in Portland, with a frame to show off their skills.

Rudi says that he didn’t have a particular inspiration for the theme, he just wanted to see the wood grain done differently. “The logo,” he tells us, “is done in horizontal red/orange kandy fade over variegated blue gold leaf with black and gold paint outlines.”

Shortly before NAHBS, Rudi and a deer had an altercation while he was riding his ’78 BMW R80/7 at 65mph. Luckily, his painting arm is still ok. There’s no head badge on this Bishop — it’s all wet paint. A Best Finish Award made it all worthwhile.